Is there a lack of creativity in music today?

It seems anything can be a hit today. I've heard Will.i.am and Justin Beiber's new single and it's nothing but mindless lyrics and a simple dance beat.

Where is anything new or even going against society? It seems anyone can write a song of five lines and a dance beat then sell.

To me I feel music is VERY controlled today and all creativity is being stifled. I think one way would to be punish acts in the charts. Make a panel decide 40% of the charts and make each performer submit a live performance of their song. It stops crap like "Scream and Shout" hitting #1 Failure to do so - banned from the charts and radio for six months.

People more interested in creative music don't buy it, they illegally download/stream it. That's the crux of the problem.

Personally, I don't think that has anything to do with it. In my experience, when my friends respect an artist, they will buy their music legally, and will tend to illegally download the more 'guilty pleasure' mainstream artists.

Yes because music that get's in the charts is all that exists lol, if you don't like what's in the charts simply look elsewhere, there is tons of what you would deem as creative music available, just stop being lazy and go look for it!

I think not but for me the issue seems to be people for the most part don't want creative and it fits in with our consumerist culture of qiuck easy convenient music that can be easily digested before the next song of a similar ilk and when someone does to something creative its not appreciated but doesn't mean it's not out there Like Marina & The Diamonds highly commercial incredibly creative if not original but mostly ignored Emeli Sande similar to Adele easy listening good for now until the next one that seems to be the prevailing attitude.

I think the music industry is structured in a way that music output is restricted within it's 'creativity.' Producers have a massive influence on sound, appearance and who the target audience should be.

It seems anything can be a hit today. I've heard Will.i.am and Justin Beiber's new single and it's nothing but mindless lyrics and a simple dance beat.

Where is anything new or even going against society? It seems anyone can write a song of five lines and a dance beat then sell.

To me I feel music is VERY controlled today and all creativity is being stifled. I think one way would to be punish acts in the charts. Make a panel decide 40% of the charts and make each performer submit a live performance of their song. It stops crap like "Scream and Shout" hitting #1 Failure to do so - banned from the charts and radio for six months.

What do you think?

there's certainly a lack of anti-establishmentism, and i miss that as it always seemed part of the purpose to me. Unfortunately in our twitter-jerk culture an artist would probably be shot down if they released an album called 'The Queen is Dead' for example. It's generally the case that music panders to the market rather than creates a new one for itself these days, why that is i'm not sure.

Bands nowadays are under a load of pressure to get noticed and appreciated. They focus more on what will sell instead of writing good innovative music that stands out from all the crap the major music industries try to force on us listeners. However, there are a few bands that were lucky enough to gain a big enough fan base to build a career around their creativity. I am thinking of bands like: Arctic Monkeys, Rage Against the Machine, Foo Fighters who define the meaning of raw uncompromising rock music. Here's my list of top fav.
1) Arctic Monkeys
2) Rage Against the Machine
3) Foo Fighters
4) Queens of the Stone Age
5) Kings of Leon
6) The Dead Weather (all Jack White's work)
7) Incubus

Bands nowadays are under a load of pressure to get noticed and appreciated. They focus more on what will sell instead of writing good innovative music that stands out from all the crap the major music industries try to force on us listeners. However, there are a few bands that were lucky enough to gain a big enough fan base to build a career around their creativity. I am thinking of bands like: Arctic Monkeys, Rage Against the Machine, Foo Fighters who define the meaning of raw uncompromising rock music. Here's my list of top fav.
1) Arctic Monkeys
2) Rage Against the Machine
3) Foo Fighters
4) Queens of the Stone Age
5) Kings of Leon
6) The Dead Weather (all Jack White's work)
7) Incubus

You've listed some of the more mainstream rock bands there.Some of them past their creative best, some 'probably' having little to start with .Think you are one of the people that Chris_Walton was referring to, to 'delve deeper beneath the mainstream' - at least your not a Capital FM (i.e. crappy mainstream dance / pop they playlist) listener anyway

PS Not saying the above bands haven't released some good stuff in the past, maybe to a lesser extent produce some good stuff in the future.

Bands nowadays are under a load of pressure to get noticed and appreciated. They focus more on what will sell instead of writing good innovative music that stands out from all the crap the major music industries try to force on us listeners. However, there are a few bands that were lucky enough to gain a big enough fan base to build a career around their creativity. I am thinking of bands like: Arctic Monkeys, Rage Against the Machine, Foo Fighters who define the meaning of raw uncompromising rock music. Here's my list of top fav.
1) Arctic Monkeys
2) Rage Against the Machine
3) Foo Fighters
4) Queens of the Stone Age
5) Kings of Leon
6) The Dead Weather (all Jack White's work)
7) Incubus

Foo Fighters are very poppy and mainstream as far as rock music goes. As for Kings of Leon, they made a very deliberate change to a more accessible sound after 'Because of the Times' which brought them huge mainstream success - not exactly what I'd call 'raw and uncompromising'. Incubus don't exactly fit that description either, though I have to admit I prefer their softer, more 'mainstream' work.

As others have said, there is plenty of creativity in music if you are prepared to seek it out! That said, I do think the charts are slowly getting a bit better and more varied again... Gotye having the biggest selling single of 2012 was a step in the right direction, here's hoping we get more hits of that calibre soon.

I definitely don't agree with having a judging panel help decide what charts though - music snobbery has no place in the top 40!

chart music has always been frowned upon, it was aimed at 'da kidz', however, amongst the 'pop' in the pop charts there was always some credible music. even contemporary pop was new and exciting.

yes there is a lack of creativity, or at least original creativity, because its all been done before.

Chart music used to push boundaries though.

I'm old enough to have attended a Buddy Holly concert. His music wasnt just 'new' takes on the same old, it was ground breaking stuff and changed what music, let alone 'pop music' actually was.

Theres always been utter pap in the charts, it was the Avons in my day, but even bubblegum used to be well crafted music, take 'I want you Back' from the Jackson 5 , its a brilliant piece of music that stands up against anything released this decade, now its all throwaway lyrics and sampled music, and I think thats the crux.

Its so easy (and for the labels, importantly, cheap) to create a beat in a computer just from taking what others have done before, that the commercial music world is kind of eating itself , its no wonder they arent doing anything new, because they start with a base of something already done.

Of the recent pop stuff, the one that catches my ear are Little Mix (even though I'm 50+ years outside their marketing range), its catchy stuff , and they seem to have lyrics that avoid the usual sexual innuendo cliches that pretty much seem de facto at the minute. The live stuff I've seen clips of shows they at least have some talent behind the hype as well.

My recent favourite artist has been Ian Prowse, never commercial barring a couple of minor hits in the '90's , but a great lyricist and songwriter. There are plenty of them out there, if you look.

It's not lack of creativity, it's lack of risk taking. Labels play it safe (and sign puppets), signed artists play it safe (and sing crap) and radio stations play it safe (and only play signed artists). It's a cycle tbh.

I'm old enough to have attended a Buddy Holly concert. His music wasnt just 'new' takes on the same old, it was ground breaking stuff and changed what music, let alone 'pop music' actually was.

Theres always been utter pap in the charts, it was the Avons in my day, but even bubblegum used to be well crafted music, take 'I want you Back' from the Jackson 5 , its a brilliant piece of music that stands up against anything released this decade, now its all throwaway lyrics and sampled music, and I think thats the crux.

Its so easy (and for the labels, importantly, cheap) to create a beat in a computer just from taking what others have done before, that the commercial music world is kind of eating itself , its no wonder they arent doing anything new, because they start with a base of something already done.

Of the recent pop stuff, the one that catches my ear are Little Mix (even though I'm 50+ years outside their marketing range), its catchy stuff , and they seem to have lyrics that avoid the usual sexual innuendo cliches that pretty much seem de facto at the minute. The live stuff I've seen clips of shows they at least have some talent behind the hype as well.

My recent favourite artist has been Ian Prowse, never commercial barring a couple of minor hits in the '90's , but a great lyricist and songwriter. There are plenty of them out there, if you look.

oh i fully agree, the charts might have been frowned on by some, but there has always been some fantastic tracks that do the genre of 'pop' no harm.

and thats the point... 'its there if you seek it out' mantra .. in the past you didnt HAVE to seek it out. it was reprisented in the singles chart, if you liked that style whatever it was, you then seeked out more. the singles chart was the shop window and i reckon fairly well reprisented every major youth movement in popular music.